Manic Street Preachers Destructive Alienating Cultural and Despair Filled Tracks POLL RESULTS

http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000064284/polls_oceanspray_cranberry.edit_5632_515408_answer_1_xlarge.jpeg

49. My Little Empire (from This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours) [3 votes, 55 points, 1998]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoesfppMfe8

I thought that'd do better. Lovely tune. Most of that album has nudged into a kind of nothingness for me, but the arrangement here is really powerful. It lacks a bit in the metre which I presume is Wire's work (imagine! it's totally different from the insane cramming in their earlier lyrics though) but otherwise really fits the mood of satisfied resignation.

tbh i only glanced over the timttmy tracklist before voting, didn't listen to it. maybe i should have done, that might have crept in. definite NIN vibe going on - including the somewhat embarrassing lyrics.

This was the only track on Truth I voted for, and the latest-in-their-career track on my ballot

Actually I think Trent could have done better than "I'm sick of being sick/I'm tired of being tired/I'm bored of being bored"

48. Interiors (Song for Willem De Kooning) (from Everything Must Go) [2 votes, 56 points, 1996]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxCqtL3YAH8

I have a real soft spot for This Is My Truth. I was listening to it at a very awkward time in my late teens - struggling with girls and stuff - and the utter hopelessness sentimentalised in that album fit my mood in those dark winter months. My Little Empire was an absolute highlight (or lowlight as it were) of this dreariness.

These days listening back to This Is My Truth, it could really have done with a bit of trimming. All the songs are very pretty and startling, but they don't do anything different after the three minute mark. Lop a couple of minutes off each track, and you'd have a contender with The Bends for blinding miserablist rock. In fact, I may take it on myself to make an edited version.

Everything Must Go always annoyed me though. This Is My Truth sounded more like the kind of Richie-mourning record than EMG, which edged very closely to AOR territory. Plus Kevin Carter was a direct copy of the Radiohead B-side "The Trickster" (although I'm not sure which was written first tbh).

Someone said similar about both GT and half of GATS iirc - long sections of songs where nothing new happens. I initially thought it might be down to moving up to arenas, where it feels like your songs should be anthemic and therefore longer, but bless 'em they were hardly arena rock in their early days.

(though didn't they play Knebworth supporting GnR or someone back then, with disastrous results? am I making that up?)

Plus Kevin Carter was a direct copy of the Radiohead B-side "The Trickster"

no spoilers... but haha wow.

do you know that one ledge?

i used to rock the my iron lung ep back in the day, yeah.

i bought a really good R'head bootleg from Cambridge market called Oxfords Angels circa 1997 that combined all their non-album tracks on one disc. Think Kevin Carter was in my listening sphere at the same time, and I was kind of amazed at the time that two of my fave bands had written the same song. Iron Lung came out in 1994, Kevin Carter 1996.

47. Spectators Of Suicide (from Generation Terrorists) [3 votes, 57 points, 1992]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT_8ZsSqjZ4

Couldn't find a Youtube of the album version so you'll have to do with the Heavenly one

It was the heavenly one i was voting for anyway :-)

I thought the results of these polls were usually rolled out over 2 or 3 days rather than a week?

Not sure actually, I was going by the Blur one which was a week.

I think you run the risk of losing momentum with the actual comments? If you can do it in 2 or 3 days then I see no reason why you shouldn't. Avoiding poll fatigue too maybe. Thanks for doing this poll, Jamie. Looking forward to the rest of the results.

Yeah I guess so, will maybe do 15 today, 15 monday, 15 tuesday and final 5 wednesday

46. Found That Soul (from Know Your Enemy) [4 votes, 58 points, 2001]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uwacLOnyKA

good song from the best later era album imo. Much better than TIMTTMY too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13903721 rofl

love it. chris is a nice guy. told me when i met him that when he was a punk teenager with a mohawk he used to do birdwatching sat up a tree in southampton common. which is a lovely image.

45. My Guernica (from Know Your Enemy) [3 votes, 60 points, 2001]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3-qeaJ-HYo

44. Epicentre (from Know Your Enemy) [2 votes, 1 first place, 62 points, 2001]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wVLvXvX7Jc

Seems a lot agree this is one of the best post richey era albums then. Good stuff.

Great live on this tour as well.

I think a lot of songs on it really work when you hear them separate from the album, but as a whole it's too long and badly sequenced

looking at the ILM polls thread I saw this

My own inclination for Zep was to allow 3 days for voting and 2 days for the reveal.

Is that what everyone's to do then? (it's certainly fine by me)

i'd say a week for voting is better, and maybe a 3 day reveal.

Not sure how the poll format has come to be standardised, though it does make sense to stop them overlapping. Do what fits I say - I'd be inclined to have a week or more for voting then a quick reveal myself, given the choice, but it'd depend on the artist.

'Found That Soul's a good 'un.

I have no use for post-Richey manics. Ismael captured pretty well upthread:

"It lacks a bit in the metre which I presume is Wire's work (imagine! it's totally different from the insane cramming in their earlier lyrics though)"

Richey's crazy electric word collages of despair really affected the Manics' sound as a whole, obviously in that insane cramming, but it seemed like every part of the songs had to rise up to meet the challenge of his verbiage. That fire just isn't there anymore.

yeah id just finish the reveal over the weekend if you can. Its not like there's hundreds of voters who have no access to the internet. Plus it would liven up the weekend on here!

And whilst I voted for all richey era tracks as it was ltd to 20, and i certainly do prefer the 1st 3 albums to what came after,there's still been some good albums and great tracks since.

43. Archives Of Pain (from The Holy Bible) [3 votes, 64 points, 1994]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bdcnysXhHU

This was the track I remember the Manics-obsessed girl I fancied in sixth-form college would bang on about as being one of the most frightening songs in the world. I was slightly underwhelmed when I heard it as a result, as it had been overhyped, but still a good enough track.

I love Bradfield's pronunciation of "A killer" - sounds like "tequila" but more menacing, like a poisonous spider or scorpion.

Awful anti gun control/pro captial punishment lyrics notwithstanding

― ledge, Wednesday, 15 June 2011 09:57 (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

The gun control ones are silly and contrarian but I like the capital punishment ones for their sheer extremity - artistically successful even if I disagree. Bands just don't sing about that stuff.

― Strictly vote-splitting (DL), Wednesday, 15 June 2011 10:03 (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i suppose there is a kind of clarity in the lyrics here, no pussyfooting or hypocrisy, seeing the naked lunch for what it is and gleefully biting down on the fork - "STERILISE RAPISTS! ALL I PREACH IS EXTINCTION!". Still smdh at them though.

during- and post-Richey Manics are obv very different bands but both are worthy. They've probably released at least 50-60 songs I at least like in the post-Richey era.

Man, that is a LOT of KYE so far. Are we going to see "The Convalescent"? That's my fave off the record - can't argue w/ that coda despite the frequently naff lyrics.

'Archives of Pain' is a fine track. I remember stumbling on the Foucault book that the horse image (and probably most of the rest of the lyrics) came from in the short loan section at uni library. It was completely useless for study, no idea why it was in there. The book was far more gruesome than the song, in fact looking at the lyric now I don't recall why pro-capital punishment lines caused such a fuss, it seems a perfectly defensible opinion to me. Possibly largely largely down to my own drift through time, but there's a strong element of personal and communal responsibility in it which rarely features in the public dialogue (and only obliquely in this lyric, to be fair).

I'm just so surprised at how many albums they've actually made since I stopped following them. Last thing I paid any attention to was The Masses Against The Classes, which felt like a marker point in their history, but they've just gone on and on with few sabbaticals. The album artwork for Lifeblood is so so of its time, with the minimal but gothy theme. It screams cut-out bin to me.

Most of those albums have some worth, too, and - though there's some disagreement on this point - I think Journal for Plague Lovers is their best since Everything Must Go.

Id agree with that, then Know Your Enemy.

as mentioned on the vote thread i actually really like Lifeblood - probably enjoy it the most of the last four albums - but saying that I didn't vote for any of the tracks

1985 is a great song, I left it off my ballot at the last second, but the rest of the album is rubbish. It was worse than TIMTTMY, which really says something.

send away the tigers is better than Lifeblood.

Just read the lyrics to "Archives Of Pain" - woah! They don't make em like that any more.

Hey - This Is My Truth is a good album!

I like that there is little to no consensus as to which of their albums are even worthwhile. I always assumed that Lifeblood was generally agreed upon as dogshit (the band certainly seems to think so), but apparently not!

the best of these polls are the ones with no given consensus.

The orchestral version of ADFL on Forever Delayed is really nice.

everyone i've loved or hated always seems to leave

and #2 is...?

2. Faster (from The Holy Bible) [11 votes, 3 first place, 347 points, 1994]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hMqpR9AogI

"just an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff " refers to a story involving a childs playground at the top of a cliff, people were worried that the children would fall off and die, but instead of erecting a fence they put an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff so that they could get them to hospital quickly. I havn't a clue if this is a true story but i think it reflect a lot in soceity and its twisted logic. Has anyone else heard this story and remember it more complete than myself?

xp

<3 <3 <3 FASTER <3 <3 <3

v close between 2 & 3 !

I agonised about Yes and This Is Yesterday for my no.1. If I'd gone with Yes it'd've been #2 (at least!)

Faster: Richey's best lyric? James' best treatment? Love the sheer - I gotta say it - manic braggadocio, something that simmers under most of the rest of THB, even the obvious victim songs like 4st 7lb or Yes. "Self disgust is self obsession", and though he seems to spurn the former here he obviously is still suffering from the latter.

I can't see that youtube right now, but I hope you've gone with the incredible Top Of The Pops performance.

yes it is and yes it was

I'm all in favour of bands coming across like a deranged terrorist cell. Faster is such a gloriously lean, hard, aggressive, brutal piece of music and polemic.

The narrator could be the son of the guy from First We Take Manhattan.

I. AM. AN. ARC-EE-TECT!

it's such a bold statement of personal agenda, an only slightly hysterical 'fuck you, i'm right, the world is wrong'. if he had had the faith in himself to really be this guy, who takes on the world, instead of the guy who is beaten down by it, i guess things would have turned out differently.

1. The Ballad Of The Bangkok Novotel (b-side to Found That Soul) [312 votes, 89 first place, 3001 points, 2001]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42955-rehKk

GET IN!!

it took me all day to register 88 socks but goddammit, now we are actually here, it was all worth it

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WCQMmI1Oazc/TL73WQkGN4I/AAAAAAAAACA/-TEuBiY-FfI/s1600/headbang.jpg

http://www.socialmediascience.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/crowdsurf.jpg

sorry, just recalculated actually it's

1. Break My Heart Slowly (from Nicky Wire's classic I Killed The Zeitgeist) [400 votes, 94 first place, 3122 points, 2006]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejh7Z0KmbBw

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CdKESCVynAI/SbzlrtMjXuI/AAAAAAAACTg/6RMCOkDKTc4/s400/James%2BDean%2BBradfield1.jpg

http://i55.tinypic.com/18d4cj.jpg

ok ok

1. Motorcycle Emptiness (from Generation Terrorists) [15 votes, 2 first place, 424 points, 1992]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gavcjNniIvk

Ah, can't really argue. When we went to Japan on holiday, I made a point of getting a despondent photo of me framed in an alienating hotel window, a la Richey in the video. Would've done more at the ferris wheel, but it's in Yokohama and we didn't go there.

interesting, faster got more 1st places but for some reason a good chunk of voters didn't touch it, whereas nearly everyone voted for ME. as of course they should have. feels like being a teenager again.

thanks to everyone who voted and commented. if you want to know positions of any other tracks let me know...

No, thank YOU. Go on, give us a full rundown.

yeah, it was cool to see the full list of positions/score/votes/#1s if you can just dump that stuff into a post.

thanks jamie, superb job.

okay here goes, everything voted for, don't have time to stick in the albums, years on the non 50 stuff though

114. Gold Against The Soul [1 votes, 12 points]
113. Let Robeson Sing [1 votes, 12 points]
112. Black Holes For The Young [1 votes, 13 points]
111. Born To End [1 votes, 13 points]
110. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head [1 votes, 13 points]
109. To Repel Ghosts [1 votes, 13 points]
108. Australia [1 votes, 14 points]
107. Intravenous Agnostic [1 votes, 14 points]
106. Send Away The Tigers [1 votes, 14 points]
105. The Convalescent [1 votes, 14 points]
104. I'm Not Working [1 votes, 17 points]
103. Love Turn Us Under [1 votes, 17 points]
102. Teenage 20/20 [1 votes, 18 points]
101. Virginia State Epileptic Colony [1 votes, 18 points]
100. 4eva Delayed [1 votes, 19 points]
99. Automatik Technicolour [1 votes, 20 points]
98. Love's Sweet Exile [1 votes, 20 points]
97. Ready For Drowning [1 votes, 20 points]
96. Horses Under Starlight [1 votes, 21 points]
95. Door To The River [1 votes, 22 points]
94. Empty Souls [1 votes, 22 points]
93. I Live To Fall Asleep [1 votes, 22 points]
92. Postcards From A Young Man [1 votes, 22 points]
91. Second Great Depression [1 votes, 22 points]
90. Some Kind Of Nothingness [1 votes, 22 points]
89. This Joke Sport Severed [1 votes, 22 points]
88. Umbrella [1 votes, 22 points]
87. We Are All Bourgeois Now [1 votes, 22 points]
86. All Is Vanity [1 votes, 23 points]
85. Democracy Coma [1 votes, 23 points]
84. Emily [1 votes, 23 points]
83. Facing page:top left [1 votes, 23 points]
82. Indian Summer [1 votes, 23 points]
81. Marlon JD [1 votes, 23 points]
80. Strip It Down [1 votes, 23 points]
79. Underdogs [1 votes, 23 points]
78. Methodone Pretty [1 votes, 24 points]
77. SYMM [1 votes, 24 points]
76. The Love Of Richard Nixon [1 votes, 26 points]
75. You're Tender And You're Tired [1 votes, 26 points]
74. You Stole The Sun From My Heart [1 votes, 26 points]
73. Another Invented Disease [1 votes, 28 points]
72. Natwest Barclays Midlands Lloyds [2 votes, 28 points]
71. Me And Stephen Hawking [1 votes, 30 points]
70. Never Want Again [2 votes, 33 points]
69. Bag Lady [2 votes, 35 points]
68. Comfort Comes [2 votes, 35 points]
67. Patrick Bateman [2 votes, 35 points]
66. Solitude Sometimes Is [2 votes, 37 points]
65. William's Last Words (Underworld Remix) [2 votes, 38 points]
64. Condemned To Rock N Roll [2 votes, 39 points]
63. Crucifix Kiss [1 votes, 1 first place, 40 points]
62. The Girl Who Wanted to be God [2 votes, 41 points]
61. Yourself [2 votes, 42 points]
60. AutumnSong [2 votes, 43 points]
59. Tsunami [2 votes, 43 points]
58. Judge Yrself [2 votes, 44 points]
57. New Art Riot [2 votes, 44 points]
56. The Year of Purification [2 votes, 47 points]
55. The Masses Against the Classes [2 votes, 48 points]
54. Repeat (UK) [3 votes, 49 points]
53. 1985 [2 votes, 51 points]
52. The Intense Humming Of Evil [2 votes, 52 points]
51. Black Dog On My Shoulder [3 votes, 53 points]
50. Ocean Spray (from Know Your Enemy) [3 votes, 54 points, 2001]
49. My Little Empire (from This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours) [3 votes, 55 points, 1998]
48. Interiors (Song for Willem De Kooning) (from Everything Must Go) [2 votes, 56 points, 1996]
47. Spectators Of Suicide (from Generation Terrorists) [3 votes, 57 points, 1992]
46. Found That Soul (from Know Your Enemy) [4 votes, 58 points, 2001]
45. My Guernica (from Know Your Enemy) [3 votes, 60 points, 2001]
44. Epicentre (from Know Your Enemy) [2 votes, 1 first place, 62 points, 2001]
43. Archives Of Pain (from The Holy Bible) [3 votes, 64 points, 1994]
42. So Why So Sad (from Know Your Enemy) [2 votes, 1 first place, 65 points, 2001]
41. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky (from Everything Must Go) [4 votes, 67 points, 1996]
40. Sepia (b-side to Kevin Carter) [3 votes, 68 points, 1996]
39. ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart (from The Holy Bible) [4 votes, 70 points, 1994] (tied with 37 & 38)
38. Revol (from The Holy Bible) [3 votes, 70 points, 1994] (tied with 37 & 39)
37. Your Love Alone Is Not Enough (from Send Away The Tigers) [3 votes, 1 first place, 70 points, 2007] (tied with 38 & 39)
36. Too Cold Here (b-side to Revol) [3 votes, 71 points, 1994]
35. Enola/Alone (from Everything Must Go) [3 votes, 81 points, 1996] tied with 34 & 33
34. Mausoleum (from The Holy Bible) [3 votes, 81 points, 1994] tied with 35 & 33
33. There By The Grace Of God (from Forever Delayed) [3 votes, 81 points, 2002] tied with 34 & 35
32. Dead Trees and Traffic Islands (b-side to A Design For Life) [4 votes, 82 points, 1996] tied with 31 & 30
31. Jackie Collins Existential Question Time (from Journal For Plague Lovers) [5 votes, 82 points, 2009] tied with 32 & 30
30. Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless) (stand-alone single) [4 votes, 82 points, 1992] tied with 31 & 32
29. The Everlasting (from This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours) [4 votes, 83 points, 1998]
28. Peeled Apples (from Journal For Plague Lovers) [4 votes, 85 points, 2009]
27. She Is Suffering (from The Holy Bible) [4 votes, 91 points, 1994]
26. Prologue To History (b-side to If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next) [5 votes, 92 points, 1998]
25. Slash & Burn (from Generation Terrorists) [5 votes, 99 points, 1992]
24. No Surface All Feeling (from Everything Must Go) [4 votes, 109 points, 1996]
23. P.C.P. (from The Holy Bible) [6 votes, 110 points, 1994]
22. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier (from Everything Must Go) [5 votes, 111 points, 1996]
21. Roses In The Hospital (from Gold Against The Soul) [6 votes, 118 points, 1993]
20. Life Becoming A Landslide (from Gold Against The Soul) [6 votes, 120 points, 1993]
19. Everything Must Go (from Everything Must Go) [6 votes, 121 points, 1996]
18. Further Away (from Everything Must Go) [6 votes, 134 points, 1996]
17. Little Baby Nothing (from Generation Terrorists) [6 votes, 144 points, 1992]
16. If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next (from This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours) [7 votes, 150 points, 1998]
15. Of Walking Abortion (from The Holy Bible) [7 votes, 151 points, 1994]
14. Stay Beautiful (from Generation Terrorists) [6 votes, 152 points, 1992]
13. Die in the Summertime (from The Holy Bible) [7 votes, 154 points, 1994]
12. Motown Junk (stand-alone single) [7 votes, 156 points, 1991]
11. You Love Us (from Generation Terrorists) [7 votes, 159 points, 1992]
10. La Tristessa Durera (Scream to a Sigh) (from Gold Against The Soul) [8 votes, 170 points, 1993] tied with 9
9. Sleepflower (from Gold Against The Soul) [7 votes, 170 points, 1993] tied with 10
8. From Despair to Where (from Gold Against The Soul) [9 votes, 189 points, 1993]
7. This Is Yesterday (from The Holy Bible) [7 votes, 1 first place, 202 points, 1994]
6. 4st 7lb (from The Holy Bible) [9 votes, 1 first place, 244 points, 1994]
5. Kevin Carter (from Everything Must Go) [9 votes, 1 first place, 252 points, 1996]
4. A Design For Life (from Everything Must Go) [11 votes, 2 first place, 275 points, 1996]
3. Yes (from The Holy Bible) [11 votes, 2 first place, 344 points, 1994]
2. Faster (from The Holy Bible) [11 votes, 3 first place, 347 points, 1994]
1. Motorcycle Emptiness (from Generation Terrorists) [15 votes, 2 first place, 424 points, 1992]

Raindrops was mine, surprised noöne else voted for it. I also voted for Repeat. Apart from them, everything else made the fifty.

my fallen soldiers:

8. Methadone Pretty
11. New Art Riot
12. Love's Sweet Exile
14. Teenage 20/20
16. Condemned To Rock 'N' Roll
19. Born To End

looks like i was the only person to vote for 4 of these (love's sweet exile??) but then i did have all of the top 3 in my top 5 so i can't complain.

So just me voting for 4Ever Delayed then. Other non-placers: William's Last Words, Comfort Comes, Solitude Sometimes Is.

And thanks Jamie. That was fun. More fun even than The Intense Humming of Evil.

Thanks! This was a fun poll with a ton of Youtube material to check out after the fact.

Mine that didn't place:

6 You're Tender and You're Tired
11 Horses Under Starlight
12 Tsunami
16 Nat West-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds
17 Repeat (UK)

Did any other Americans vote in this? I gotta admit a lack of familiarity with a whole lot of B-sides (which is not totally surprising, considering).

Cheers Jamie!

My sole non-placer: 72. Natwest Barclays Midlands Lloyds [2 votes, 28 points]. Everything in the top seven was in my top seven but I had first and second place swapped.

Really wish Horses Under Starlight had placed. love it.

I didn't vote, but I'd have stuck Raindrops pretty high

(Motorcycle Emptiness) feels like being a teenager again.

Yus indeed - Can't listen to it without being transported back to Hatfield Forum indie night.

yay, someone else voted for "Never Want Again"!

Am I the lone Yank? It can't be. Glad to see 1985 get love. I was already overloading my ballot with Lifeblood!
Intended to vote Raindrops but got distracted by Umbrella.
Big thanks to Jamie!!

I'm Canadia fwiw

and yes thanks Jamie!

er *Canadian

ballots?

Sleepflower
Motorcycle Emptiness
Stay Beautiful
Patrick Bateman
Die In The Summertime
This Is Yesterday
Life becoming A Landslide
IfWhiteAmericaToldTheTruthForOneDayIt'sWorldWouldFallApart
She is suffering
Spectators Of Suicide
New Art Riot
Strip It Down
Motown Junk
You Love Us
Slash 'N' Burn
Revol
Repeat
Little Baby Nothing
Yourself
Roses In The Hospital

This Is Yesterday
Yes
Sleepflower
Stay Beautiful
Faster
Revol
4st 7lb
Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier
Kevin Carter
Suicide Is Painless
My Little Empire
Yourself
P.C.P.
Further Away
No Surface All Feeling
From Despair to Where
Life Becoming a Landslide
Slash & Burn
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
Repeat (UK)

Bag Lady (12)
Black Holes for the Young (13)
The Convalescent (14)
Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier (15)
From Despair to Where (16)
I'm Not Working (17)
Never Want Again (18)
The Year of Purification (19)
Die in the Summertime (20)
La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh) (21)
Peeled Apples (22)
Everything Must Go (23)
William's Last Words (Underworld Remix) (24)
Black Dog On My Shoulder (25)
Too Cold Here (26)
Faster (28)
Motorcycle Emptiness (30)
No Surface All Feeling (33)
This Is Yesterday (36)
Yes (40)

Great poll jamie, thank you very much for doing it all!